Somewhere on the outskirts of reason... Or where good television can be found.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Stevie Ray Vaughan 'Solos, Sessions, & Encores'

Bruce Springsteen and the East Street Band played the Greensboro Coliseum this past Monday night… I wasn’t sure that I would make it, but Goat Boy had a ticket for me.

When the Boss was here last time, he came solo and acoustic. And they shut down the beer vendors once he took the stage because that’s the way Bruce wanted it. Sitting through that show was almost like running to a bathroom a mile away while holding back an eruption of white-hot-diarrhea… It, for me, was very painful… If you know what I mean. Sure… Marcia Gan enjoyed it. Hell, most of the other folks enjoyed it. I was bored to tears and was told that the show is much better with the E. Street Band.

I kept that little nugget in the back of my pea brain.

I was excited about going to the show. I met up with Hinzy, Karla, her sister (sorry, I forgot her name), and Glenn at Hooters for a few cold ‘uns.

Side note here… We met at Hooters since Rock 92 was doing a remote there with Chris Kelly. It was a great place to meet since it was just down the road from the Coliseum.

When the Hooters girl gave me my check… I noticed that she had drawn an outline of lips on it. Karla and her sister rolled their eyes… So I took a page out of the Superbad playbook… I drew a penis and testicles on the receipt that I signed. I have no idea why… I guess my smartass gene kicked in at that point.

Hinzy and I got in a few celebratory beers at the Carlyle Club before finding our way to our seats in the Coliseum. I couldn’t believe the spread they had out there that night… At the WWE event, we had some sort of “calf in a blanket” called Beef Wellington. At Def Leppard there was nothing but a veggie tray. But at Bruce Springsteen… The place was like Caligula’s orgy of edibles. There were chefs there whipping things up before our very eyes. There was a slab of meat as big as Hoover upright vacuum. It was crazy.

Since I was full… I didn’t eat anything. I was expecting the usual lack of stuff. So Hinzy and I kept knocking back the brews. He and Glen made it to their seats long before I did. I was too busy socializing.

As a matter of fact, I didn’t get to my seat until he started playing “Roulette”. It was the second song and one that I actually know… You see… I’m a very passive Bruce Springsteen fan. Counting my LP’s and CD’s… I have a half dozen in my collection. I consider the Boss to be a great songwriter, but he just doesn’t cause me to go out and purchase everything in his catalog. I wouldn’t drive to Charlotte or Raleigh for a free show. He doesn’t move me to name children, pets, or even my penis after him. I guess you could say that “I can take him or leave him”.

I felt it was necessary that I see him once with the E. Street Band to see what all the hubbub was about.

My findings didn’t change from the previous experience. I couldn’t understand the mumbled lyrics and most of the songs sounded a lot alike. Yeah… I thought he was playing some of the same songs again and again. The only event that caused me to get excited was when the VERY UNDERRATED Nils Lofgren went off on a crazy solo during “Because The Night”. That crazy cat was doing things on his guitar that I haven’t seen since Grunge killed off Hair Metal… Lofgren was finger tapping… Using harmonics up and down the fret board… And bending notes as if he didn’t give a damn about the strings on his guitar. I haven’t seen anyone play a guitar like that since guys like Brad Gillis and Warren De Martini ruled the guitar scene. I was so blown away that I nearly cried on Hinzy’s shoulder.

Then the boring set back in… So I made my way back to the Carlyle Club for a few adult refreshments. That’s where I met a few people that felt the same way I did… Will Bastard, Allison, and Tim. I found refuge with some like-minded folk and we all agreed that since we have the ticket stub… We can say that we saw a rock n’ roll legend… Blah, blah, blah.